Cigarette machine feed



' June 11, 1957 EY 2,795,229

CIGARETTE MACHINE FEED Filed Oct 22, \1954 40 M INVENTOR GEORGE DEARSLEY ATTORNEY CIGARETTE MACHINE FEED George Dearsley, Raleigh, N. C., assignor to American lg lachine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New ersey Application October 22, 1954, Serial No. 463,920

11 Claims. 01. 131-109 This invention relates to cigarette machine feeds, and more particularly to improvements in methods and apparatus for handling tobacco winnowed from shredded tobacco that is fed in cigarette machines.

Due to modern higher out-put methods of leaf preparation, such as threshing, there is a tendency for more stems and woody particles to be found in the cut tobacco used in cigarette making machines. This has resulted in a need for more efiicient winnowing and for a more efficient manner to handle the winnowed tobacco.

An object of this invention is to provide for more efiicient winnowing by employing a stem box having a design which will extend under the trajectory of winnowed tobacco which is of too large a weight to prevent the stem particles from falling onto the collecting conveyor.

Another object of this invention is to provide automatic means for converting the winnowed portions of the tobacco collected in the stem box into a weight which can be used in the filler of cigarettes.

A further object of the invention is to provide for the discharge of shredded stern particles onto the collecting conveyor so that it will be readily incorporated into a cigarette without detracting from the quality of the cigarettes.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved method for feeding shredded cigarette tobacco and for reprocessing incompletely shredded tobacco in the cigarette making machine.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as the description of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses. In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, like characters of reference have been applied to corresponding. parts throughout the several views whichmake up the drawings. f

Fig; l is a sectional side elevation of a tobacco feed.

for a cigarette machine having my winnowing and stem shredding mechanisms incorporated therewith.

Fig. 2 is a partial, sectional front elevation taken on' line 2-2 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3 is a sectional'end elevation of one form of the stem shredding mechanism. 7

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same taken on line 4-4 ofFig.3.

In the past it has been the practice to process through a separating apparatus the contents of the stem box to' separate any usable tobacco from the. undesirable stem. portions. The undesirable stems may then be processed still further. This procedure involves manually emptying the stem boxes, cartage of the contents of the-stem boxes to 'a processing department, the' use of separating machinery to effect the processing, and returning the usablejtobacco.separated from the-winnowed tobacco back into the production line. p

- ,The, present invention dispenses with this ,entire'protates atent cedu re and avoids undesirable breakage of the separated material into still smaller particles of tobacco because of the additional handling of the tobacco just described.

To illustrate the invention applicant has shown in Fig. 1 a conventional cigarette hopper H for shredded tobacco T. A carded feed drum 10 rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow picks up tobacco T which is forwarded up against the feed drum 10 by means of the feed belt 12 and carries it upwardly.

A conventional refuser drum 14 rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow pushes surplus tobacco from the carded feed drum 10 so that a uniform quantity of tobacco is removed by the carding of the feed drum 10. A conventional rotating picker roller 16 removes tobacco from the teeth of the feed drum 10, and discharges it onto a rotating winnower 18 which may be of conventional design.

The tobacco discharged into the winnower 18 is thrown forwardly and has a trajectory as shown. This causes tobacco particles to be carried to varying heights. The unacceptable stem portions of the tobacco fall into the stem box 20. The acceptable shredded tobacco falls short of the stem box and falls in a shower on top of the collecting belt 22 which travels over pulleys 24 and 26 in the direction indicated by the arrows.

The collecting belt 22 conveys the showered tobacco towards a pin roller 28 where the discharged tobacco is pushed in between the pins of the roller 28 by means of the roller 30. The pin roller 28 is surrounded by a concave which holds the tobacco against the roller until it reaches the point where the picker roller 32 removes the tobacco from in between the pins of roller 28.

The picker roller 32 travels in the direction indicated by the arrow and showers tobacco removed from the pin roller 28 down through a chute 34. At the lower end of the chute 34 there is a belt 36 which travels under- ,neath and along the length of said chute for receiving would not be objectionable in the finished cigarette.

This grinding is accomplished automatically and continuously and the ground stems are immediately returned onto the tobacco stream carried by the collector belt 22.

By immediately grinding the winnowed tobacco as it is received in the winnowing box 20, it is distributed uniformly in a longitudinal direction along the tobacco mat M, thereby saving labor and processing costs. This will also avoid the inclusion of tobacco particles of objectionable size in the cigarettes and will facilitate the manufacture of more uniform cigarettes. The amount of tobacco removed by winnowing can be increased, thereby increasing the winnowing efilciency. without increasing the waste because all of the winnowed tobacco is immediately broken down to an acceptable size and returned to the tobacco stream. I

' One method of carrying out the invention is to arrange the winnower 18 so that it hurls stems and heavy tobacco pieces into the box 20. The heavier particles will generally be larger in size than the lighter particles. The stem box 20 is of trough shaped configuration, so that the stems slide. to the bottom of the trough. A screw conveyor 36 is provided at the bottom of the trough which forwards the stems to an outlet 38 arranged at one side of the cigarette machine feed F.

The grinding mechanism itself may be any conventional apparatus which will give a selective cutting action. It preferably should not indiscriminately grind all the material passed into it but should allow all material Patented June 11, 1957 aromas 3 mailer than a given Seem pass through unchangedwhile allmaterial larger than that size should be torn or cut to the given size as itpasses through the grinder.

In the crusheror grinder I ,havdused, .to illustratesthe invention; the rotor or cutter 40 which cutsthe stems and is formedof harden ed steel. The proportions of the grooves 42and the pitch .of the V-shapedcontour of the rotor formed by teeth 41, will control the size to which the stems are to be cut. ,The fixed hardened blade 43 is shapedto fit the-peripherybfthc rotor or cuttern40 and is set to just ,scrape it. The cutter or rotor 40 is mounted in bearings and rotates in the housing block The, screw conveyor and the. grinder maybe driven by any suitable rneans which will rotate the parts when the feed is running, to ensure that the stems are delivered in the. correct 'proportion to the tobacco on the front collecting belt. a i 7 Stems and tobacco pieces which are too large to completely fall into the slots 42 have a portion carried past the cutter knife 43. and these pieces are thus cut to size in stages in passing. If they are already. of the correct sizethey will fall into the slot and pass by the cutter uncut. All material willfall away from the rotor 40 out through the opening 46 at the bottom of the housing block 44, which may be somewhat similar toa small coffee-mill. By this arrangement the mill discharges a continuous stream of ground or retorn stems through opening 46 directly on top of the tobacco mat as shown inFigs. 1 and 2. i i I It will be realized that the quantity of stems delivered by the winnower to the stem box is quite small, so that the grinder may be of a small design, requiring very little power for its operation, and occupying no more space than a six-inch cube. By using this invention the manufacture of cigarettes is very must simplified and the cost reduced.

The grinder is preferably arranged to deliver the stems to th e left-hand side ofthe carpet oftobacco, so that they are finally delivered onto the top of the tobacco shower, in the front trough 34. This arrangement hastwo advantages, namely, during the forming operations where the showered tobacco is formed into, a cigarette rod, the ground tobacco particles tend to sift through the tobacco stream, thus becoming evenly distributed throughout the cross-section of the cigarette, and further if any stern particle should remain on the top surface of the cigarette filler it wouldin, this position, finally be located under the pasted lap of the cigarette rod,,thereby leaving the front or face of the cigarette on which the brand name is printed quite smooth and unblemished by any protrub erances from the filler inside the cigarette on this portion of the cigarette. I

The invention hereinabove described may be varied in construction within the scope of, the claims, for the particular device selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details of the stiucture shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. A feed ,for a cigarette making machine comprising a supply of shredded tobacco, a carded feed drum for re moving tobacco from said supply, a refuser drum adjacent the carded feed drum for limiting the amount of tobacco so removedby said carded feed drum, a picker roller for removing said tobacco from the teeth of. said cardedfeed drum, a stem box, a winnower positioned to receive tobacco from said picker roller to hurl tobacco particles heavier :than a certain weight to said stem box, a collecting belt for receiving all tobacco not hurled into said stem box, a grinder for reducing said tobacco particles to the desired size, a conveyor mounted in said stem box for conveying said tobacco particles. to said grinder, and means for delivering said reground tobacco onto said collecting belt.

2. The method of feeding tobacco in a cigarette making machine ,comprisingremoving a predetermined quantity of tobacco continuously from a source of supply, winnowing tobacco particles heavier than a predetermined Weight from the tobacco so removed from said source of supply, grinding said winnowed tobacco and discharging the ground, winnowed tobacco onto the top of the tobacco removed from said source of supply for manufacturing into, cigarettes.

3. A cigarette machine feed comprising a hopper for storing a quantity of shredded cigarette tobacco, a carded feed drum for feeding a uniform quantity of tobacco continuously from said hopper, a winnower for removing tobacco particles heavier than a predetermined weight from that fed by the carded feed drum, a stem box for receiving the particles of tobacco removed by said winnower, a grinder associated with said stem box for immediately regrinding the tobacco particles delivered into said stem box by said winnower, and means for discharging the groundtobacco directly onto the shredded tobacco fed by said drum for incorporation into cigarettes.

4. A cigarette machine having the features provided for in claimii wherein the, grinder consists of a rotor having an irregular. contour and spaced slots. extending longitudinally along, its surface, said slots and contour being so .proportionedthat tobacco particles less than a certain size fall in the, slots, and a stationary cutting blade positioned adjacent. the path of said rotor to reduce tobacco particles larger than a predetermined size to an acceptable size. a

5. The method of feeding tobacco in a cigarette machine which comprises the steps of removing a continuous stream of tobacco from a source of supply, subjecting the continuous stream of tobacco to a winnowing action, collecting tobacco particles of a weight greater than desired, reducing said tobacco particles to the size desired and then immediately returning the tobacco particles so. reduced in size to the tobacco stream being made into cigarettes.

6. A feed. for shredded cigarette tobacco comprising a hopper for holding a supply of shredded cigarette tobacco, carded feeding apparatus for removing a uniform and continuous stream of tobacco from said hopper, a winnower for winnowing the tobacco removed by said carded feed drum, a trough positioned to receive tobaccoparticl'es heavier than a given weight from the winnower, a conveyor coacting with said trough for conveying the tobacco therefrom, a tobacco stem crusher for receiving tobacco from saidconveyor to reduce the tobacco so received to an acceptable size, and means for returning the tobacco particles so reduced in size to the tobacco removed by said carded feeding apparatus.

. 7. A feed for a cigarette making machine comprising a hopper for shredded cigarette tobacco, carded feed drums forremoving a 'continuousuniform stream of tobacco from said hopper, a wide collecting belt for receiving the continuousstream of tobacco so removed, a winnower interposed between said carded feed drums and said wide collecting belt for effecting the removal of. tobacco stems and particles of a weight greater than desired, a narrow collecting beltfor receiving and conveying the tobacco received from said ,wide collecting belt in a narrow stream, a trough positioned to receive from said winnower the tobacco particles which are of a weight greater thanadesired, a conveyor for forwarding the tobacco particles so removed to the .side ofthe cigarette machine feed where it will be deposited on top of the tobacco previously collected by said narrow collecting belt, a grinder positioned to receive andjreducethe tobacco particles delivered to, the said side 'on the cigarette machine feed to the size desired, and meansfor discharging the tobacco particles soreduced in size by said grinder onto the top of the shredded tobacco carried on the said 'sideof the wide collecting belt in front of said cardedfeed drums;

[8.1111 a cigarettemacliine feed, a source of supply of shredded cigarette tobacco, means for continuously feed- 4 4.4. hml' ing a uniform quantity of tobacco from said source of supply, winnowing means for removing tobacco particles of a weight greater than desired from the tobacco fed from said source of supply, a front conveyor belt for receiving tobacco from said source of supply and said winnowing means, and means for immediately grinding the tobacco particles so removed and discharging the ground tobacco onto the front conveyor belt.

9. A feed for a cigarette making machine comprising a hopper for shredded cigarette tobacco, a carded feed drum and refuser drum coacting together to remove a continuous stream of tobacco from said hopper, a winnower coacting with said feed drum for imparting a trajectory to the tobacco particles removed from said feed drum, a stem box positioned to collect all tobacco particles having a predetermined trajectory imparted thereto by said winnower, a tobacco particle crusher coacting with said stem box to reduce the tobacco particles in said stem box to a size or texture which will be acceptable for incorporation into a cigarette, and a discharge means for delivering tobacco ground by said grinder to the top of the continuous tobacco stream removed by said carded feed drum.

10. A cigarette making machine feed comprising a hopper for shredded cigarette tobacco, a carded feed drum for removing continuously a uniform stream of tobacco from said hopper, a collecting belt for receiving said continuous stream of tobacco, a winnower interposed in the path of said stream for effecting the removal of all tobacco particles greater than a predetermined weight, a stem grinder for receiving all tobacco particles so removed by said winnower, means provided in said grinder for receiving portions of tobacco less than a predetermined size and delivering them unchanged onto said collecting belt, means for effecting a grinding by said grinder of all tobacco particles larger than said predetermined size, and means for discharging said tobacco from said grinder on top of the tobacco carried on said collecting belt.

11. In a cigarette making machine, a feed comprising a hopper for shredded cigarette tobacco, a carded feeding mechanism for removing a quantity of cigarette tobacco from said hopper continuously, a conveyor for delivering tobacco so removed to a cigarette making machine in a continuous stream, a winnower interposed in said stream for eflecting a removal of all tobacco stems and particles greater than a predetermined weight, a stem crusher, a conveying mechanism for receiving and conveying the particles of tobacco so removed to said stem crusher for reducing all of the stems and particles so removed to a predetermined size, and means for returning said ground and threshed stems back to the continuous stream.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 180,789 Quesada Aug. 8, 1876 355,590 Collins Jan. 4, 1887 592,064 Perkins Oct. 19, 1897 1,765,830 Fuse June 24, 1930 2,018,011 Chandler Oct. 22, 1935 2,230,195 Warren Jan. 28, 1941 2,467,248 Arelt Apr. 12, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 675,292 Great Britain July 9, 1952 

